ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ
And if Allah had extended [excessively] provision for His servants, they would have committed tyranny throughout the earth. But He sends [it] down in an amount which He wills. Indeed He is, of His servants, Acquainted and Seeing.
Tafsir
Verse range: 42:27
{لَبَغَوْا} (They would have committed oppression): Derived from al-baghy, which is injustice. It means: this one would have oppressed that one, and that one would have oppressed this one. This is because wealth causes insolence and arrogance, and the state of Qarun is a sufficient lesson. From this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The thing I fear most for my nation is the splendor of the world and its abundance."
An Arab poet once said: The spring rain has caused to grow between us And the tribe of Ruman, the Nab' and Shawhat trees.
This implies that when they became prosperous, they began to contemplate oppression and mutual destruction. Alternatively, it refers to al-baghy as vanity and pride; meaning: they would have acted arrogantly on earth and committed the excesses and corruption that follow such pride.
It is said that this was revealed regarding the people of as-Suffah who wished for abundance of provision and wealth. Khabbab ibn al-Aratt said: "It was revealed concerning us, for we looked at the wealth of the tribes of Qurayza, an-Nadir, and Qaynuqa' and wished for it."
{بِقَدَرٍ} (With a measure): According to a specific estimation. It is said: qadara-hu qadran wa qadran (he measured it).
{خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ} (All-Aware, All-Seeing): He knows the ultimate outcome of their conditions, so He measures for them what is most suitable and conducive to their well-being. He enriches and withholds, gives and takes, and constricts and expands as Divine Wisdom dictates. If He had enriched them all, they would have oppressed; and if He had impoverished them all, they would have perished.
If you ask: "We see people oppressing one another, some of whom have been granted abundance and some of whom have been restricted. If those with abundance do not all oppress, why was it granted to them? And if those who are restricted do oppress, then oppression exists without abundance, so why make it a condition?"
I reply: There is no doubt that oppression with poverty is less frequent, while with abundance it is more frequent and prevalent. Both are manifest causes for either committing oppression or refraining from it. If abundance were universal, oppression would become so dominant that the state of affairs would invert to the opposite of what it is now.
{وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا قَنَطُوا وَيَنشُرُ رَحْمَتَهُ وَهُوَ الْوَلِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ} (And it is He who sends down the rain after they have despaired and spreads His mercy. And He is the Protector, the Praiseworthy.)
